A casino which came into the limelight after President Mahinda Rajapaksa thanked Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for bringing to his notice of its unauthorized existence, is in the news once again.
Instead of being penalized or closed down permanently, the casino which illegally operated from a government premises, will be back in business, the Sunday Times learns.
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| The casino building |
Raising issue in parliament on November 10, UNP Kurunegala District parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara asked who had permitted a casino to be set up in a state-owned building that came under the purview of the Fisheries Ministry.
Following this exposure, the government ordered the closure of the casino. But the Sunday Times learns that the casino is to be reopened at the same premises on D.R.
Wijewardene Mawatha.
The British-based Fee Group Plc., which operated the casino, in an email to the Sunday Times confirmed that the casnio was due to be opened, but did not give details. Its website, feegroupplc.com, says, “November 2010 - Fee Casino in Colombo, Sri Lanka opens.”
“Thank you for your interest in Fee Club and our casino in Sri Lanka. I will keep in touch with you and will inform you as soon as the casino opens,” Fee Casino official Diane Hughes said in a response to our email query.
The building initially housed the Cey-Nor restaurant. Cey-Nor Foundation Limited is a one-hundred percent Treasury-owned company and it comes under the purview of the Fisheries Ministry. In other words, the owners of the company are the people of Sri Lanka.
Soon after the issue was raised in Parliament, Cey-Nor Chairman Sarath Kumara de Silva lodged a complaint with the Maradana police, stating that an illegal casino was being run in the building which was rented out to run a restaurant.
When asked for his comments on the latest developments, Mr. de Silva told the Sunday Times that Cey-Nor was helpless because the building had been leased about 15 years ago and the contract was valid for eight more years.
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| A screen grab of the Fee Group website indicating
hat the casino will reopen in Colombo |
He said he was unaware that the casino was to resume operations. “We cannot interfere because of the lease agreement. This is beyond my control,” he said
Fisheries Ministry secretary Damitha de Soyza also said she knew nothing about the reopening of the casino.
“The ministry has given the premises on lease to operate a restaurant. We did not give permission to operate a casino,” she said.
However, she added that the ministry increased the rent recently from Rs. 90,000 to Rs. 100,000 a month.
Maradana Police Chief Inspector Amal Edirimana said a police team visited the location soon after the complaint and found that the casino had been closed down.
He said since the dispute involved a lease agreement between Cey-Nor and a private party, they should sort it out.
The Sunday Times made several attempts to contact the local partner of the Fee Casino without success.
UNP lawmaker Mr. Jayasekara told Parliament on November 10 that the building was handed over to a private restaurant company-- Danny Brothers. on a profit- sharing basis when President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the fisheries minister during the Chandrika Kumaratunga Government.
“Now the restaurant has been taken away from Danny Brothers and it has been given to the British based FEE group,” he said. |
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